Butter Chicken

What I’m going to give you here are the bones of the recipe – you need to add some stock if you’re cooking it on the stove-top and maybe if you’re slow-cooking it. I don’t add any more chilli than is in my fancy-bought-at-a-market garam marsala because 5,000 children mean 5,000 variants of chilli tolerance, so by all means, add away.

Anyway, it’s delicious and really very straight forward. Get to it. Make your #everyfuckingnight a winner.

1 kg chicken (I have used thigh fillets in a stove-top version and three marylands in a pressure-cooked version)

1 ½ cups Greek yogurt

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 ½ tbsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp garam masala

2 tbsp ground cumin

For the sauce

115 g butter

2 yellow onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

2 tomatoes, diced

salt to taste

(If cooking on the stove-top ⅔ cup chicken stock)

To finish

1 ½ cups cream or sour cream or yoghurt

3 tbsp almond meal

Fresh coriander

Instructions

The marinade

Smoosh everything together and marinate for as long as you've got - at least a couple of hours

The sauce

If you like you can brown the chicken but really, who has the time or energy for such nonsense

Melt the butter and add the onions. Saute for a couple of minutes

Add the garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes

Add the chicken AND all the marinadeIf using a slow cooker put the lid on and set on high for, I don't know, four hours? Or low for eight? It's impossible to destroy food in a slow cooker, you know your machine, do what you think best. Add a splosh of stock if you so wish but I find I always over water things in the slow cookerIn the pressure cooker, on highest setting for 45 minutes for marylands, 30 for chicken with no bonesOn the stove add the stock and simmer for about 30 minutes

The finish

Once cooked, add the almond meal and cream and cook for another 10 minutes or soIn the pressure cooker I take the chicken out, set the machine to reduce, add the meal and cream and reduce for 15 mins. (Just stir through yoghurt at the very end in this case otherwise it will split.)